Former Minister Partha Chatterjee.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Supreme Court sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday (February 21, 2025) to a petition filed by former West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee for bail in a cash-for-jobs scam case.
The court had granted him bail in a connected money laundering case in December last year. However, Mr. Chatterjee was already in CBI custody at the time. The CBI was investigating the predicate offences against him, including under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant issued notice to the CBI in the plea on Friday.
In December last year, the top court had taken a novel step by allowing Mr. Chatterjee future conditional bail in the money-laundering case investigated by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
The top court had permitted his bail application in a judgment on December 13 but had deferred its operation till February 1, giving the trial court time to frame charges and record the statements of vulnerable witnesses to avoid the prospect of a “failed trial”.
The judgment in the ED case was meant to strike a balance between the settled principle that an undertrial cannot be incarcerated indefinitely and the need for a speedy and fair trial in which the witnesses give their testimonies without any fear or favour.
Published – February 21, 2025 08:44 pm IST